Leopard-Spotted Mars Rock Could Hold ‘Clearest Sign of Life’ Yet, NASA Says
A Mysterious Rock in an Ancient Martian Riverbed NASA’s Perseverance rover, which landed in Jezero Crater in 2021, has been on the hunt for signs of past life. In an ancient river channel called Neretva Vallis – once a conduit for water into Jezero’s lake – the rover spotted something unusual last year washingtonpost.com theguardian.com. A flat, fine-grained mudstone rock caught scientists’ attention because its surface was dotted with multicolored spots and tiny nodules. The science team nicknamed the rock “Cheyava Falls,” after a waterfall in the Grand Canyon, due to its shape. They playfully described the larger blotches as “leopard spots” and the tiny dark bumps as